Tips from an Equine Physio Perspective
My preference is to start with long reining or in-hand hacking for a week or two depending on how long your horse has been off work. The longer they have been off, the more time they need to develop their top line and core to be ready to weight bear. 
In-hand hacking is a really great way to bond with your horse or pony too.
I recommend putting a bridle head piece on without reins and then a coupling to attach the lead rein or lunge line to.
Be Safe
If you think your horse is going to be too fresh then start in an arena or a field just in case! Wear a helmet and gloves. Be safe, too many accidents happen on the ground when you are least expecting them.
Next, I introduce the saddle for a few days a week to gradually increase the load weight and then I start to ride for short periods of time after a decent warm up. (Warming up and warming down are so so important, but that’s another post.) I recommend only riding a few days a week with in-hand days in between.
Slow and Steady
Imagine it’s you and without any real warning, you are asked to pop a 10kg backpack on your back and go for a hike; you’ll be a bit tight or even sore the next day, regardless of how fit you were before you had time off. Allow time for those back muscles to repair.
Build things up slowly; the time you spend now doing the ‘boring stuff’ will stand you in good stead for the rest of the season. When you are at the stage of introducing more intensity into your work, this is the time to get your horse checked by your physiotherapist so we can iron out any pre-training niggles.
